memeorandum: Bush and Scooter Libby (Wall Street Journal)

2:55 PM ET, December 23, 2008

Top Items:

Warren On? Party Off. — Not that he was planning to attend, but Barack Obama should know that my sister's inauguration night party — the one for which she was preparing Obama Punch — has been canceled. The notice went out over the weekend, by e-mail and word of mouth …

Discussion: TalkLeft, AMERICAblog News, Wake up America, Babalu Blog, Riehl World View, Stop The ACLU, Commentary, Macsmind and The Huffington Post

E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

A Gamble for Obama — By inviting Pastor Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation, President-elect Barack Obama has alienated some of his friends on the left. By accepting, Warren has enraged some of his allies on the right. — Obama and Warren have helped each other in the past, and both know exactly what they're doing.

Discussion: Boston Globe, The New Republic, Townhall.com, The Corner, Scripting News and AMERICAblog News

Digby / Hullabaloo:

One Way Street — I saw something very interesting today on MSNBC. Barnicle, filling in for Matthews on Hardball, hosted Reverend Eugene Rivers, a well respected, uncontroversial African American preacher, and Mike Rogers, strident gay activist. — Loaded for bear, Rivers came out firing …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Pam's House Blend and Rising Hegemon

Susan Kelleher / Seattle Times:

Seattle refuses to use salt; roads “snow packed” by design — To hear the city's spin, Seattle's road crews are making “great progress” in clearing the ice-caked streets. — But it turns out “plowed streets” in Seattle actually means “snow-packed,” as in there's snow and ice left on major arterials by design.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Betsy's Page and Commentary

Quinnipiac University:

New York Is Semi-Sweet On Caroline, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Cuomo Is Favored By Upstate Voters — New York State voters split 40 - 41 percent on whether Caroline Kennedy is qualified to be a U.S. Senator, but they expect by a 48 - 25 percent margin that Gov. David Paterson will name …

Discussion: TPM Election Central, The Daily Politics, Hotline On Call, Daily Kos, MyDD, Liberal Values, Real Clear Politics and Spin Cycle

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:

Kennedy Declines to Make Financial Disclosure — If she were applying to be, say, an undersecretary of education in Barack Obama's new administration, Caroline Kennedy would have to fill out a 63-item confidential questionnaire disclosing potentially embarrassing text messages and diary entries …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Politico, New York Post, The Caucus, Gawker, Hot Air, Spin Cycle, Commentary, NY Daily News, The Note, Pajamas Media, Don Surber and Transterrestrial Musings

John O'Sullivan / Wall Street Journal:

Conservative Snobs Are Wrong About Palin — I know Maggie Thatcher. The two women have a lot in common. — Being listed in fourth place for Time magazine's “Person of the Year,” as Sarah Palin was for 2008, sounds a little like being awarded the Order of Purity (Fourth Class).

Discussion: PoliBlog, Townhall.com, AmSpecBlog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Commentary, BLACKFIVE and Media Blog

Kyle Hopkins / Anchorage Daily News:
Palin invited to speak at conservative gathering

Discussion: PoliPundit.com

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

THERE IS NOTHING ANYONE CAN DO ABOUT IT. — Over at BoingBoing, Clay Shirky engages in a bit of self-congratulatory schadenfreude for predicting the collapse of the newspaper business model back in 1993. And no doubt: He was prescient. But like a lot of folks (many of them named Jeff Jarvis) …

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
What Might Have Been — Ezra Klein makes the case that the decline …

Discussion: Eschaton

Bill Gertz / Washington Times:

Obama wants Bush war team to stay — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has asked most Bush administration political appointees except those targeted for dismissal to stay on in the Pentagon until replaced by the Obama administration in the coming months. — “I have received authorization …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, At-Largely and Sister Toldjah

Bill Gertz / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Obama wants Bush war team to stay

Discussion: Open Left and Fox News

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

The Bush Legacy — Ed Gillespie's RealClearPolitics article on “Myths and Facts About the Real Bush Record” is about as stupid and dishonest as you'd expect. But after “debunking” five perfectly accurate alleged myths, Gillespie gets into the whopper that really gets my goat:

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Washington Monthly, Macsmind, rubber hose, Eschaton, RedState and Jules Crittenden

Washington Post:

Motorists Rescued After Massive Water Main Break — Aging Pipe Bursts, Sending Wall of Water onto River Road — A massive underground pipe rupture flooded River Road with four feet of rapidly swirling water this morning — trapping motorists, blocking a major commuter artery linking Washington …

Discussion: Megan McArdle, Achenblog and On Deadline

Associated Press:
Huge water main break traps drivers in DC suburb

Discussion: Think Progress, Associated Press and TVNewser

Maggie Haberman / New York Post:

O, MY BOD! IT'S BEACH BARACK — NEXT PREZ HEATS UP HAWAII — Just call him “Ab"-bama. — Buff-bodied President-elect Barack Obama put his chiseled frame on full display - as seen on Page 1 - during a stroll in Hawaii while on vacation with his family.

Discussion: CNN, TIME.com, The Jed Report, Real Clear Politics and Associated Press

The Huffington Post:

Emanuel Heads To Africa As Blagojevich Report Drops — With the Obama transition team set to release an internal report regarding the extent of its interactions with embattled governor Rod Blagojevich, one of the key figures in the mix is heading out of the country.

CNN:
Biden: Report to clear Obama, staff in Blagojevich matter

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Independent, TPM Election Central, The Note and New York Times

Aaron Blake / The Hill:

GOP recount guru advises Coleman — EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - A veteran of the nation's most famous recount has been quietly advising Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who is fighting a fierce battle to hang on to his seat. — Florida recount guru Benjamin Ginsberg, who played a prominent role …

Discussion: TPM Election Central, Riptide 2.0 and This Week With Barack Obama

Associated Press:
Minn. Senate winner won't be known in 2008

Discussion: Yahoo! News, FiveThirtyEight.com, Scorecard's Blogs, Hot Air, MyDD, MSNBC and Daily Kos

Bob Owens / Pajamas Media:

The Op-Ed the New York Times Wouldn't Run — An FBI informant's response to Bill Ayers' rewriting of history got the cold shoulder — but you can read it here. — On December 5, the New York Times afforded former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers a chance to publish an op-ed …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Jules Crittenden, Dean's World and Cold Fury

CNN:

Child porn investigation catches California lawyer — (CNN) — A lawyer who served in the Clinton administration and more recently was an adviser to California's lieutenant governor pleaded guilty to a child porn charge in a San Diego federal court Monday. — Wade Rowland Sanders admitted …

Discussion: Tabloid Edition

Wall Street Journal:

Bush and Scooter Libby — The former White House aide deserves a full pardon. — Rarely can Presidents improve their legacy in an Administration's twilight days. But President Bush now has that opportunity, by undoing a measure of the injustice inflicted on I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

Discussion: Michael Barone, Michael Calderone's Blogs, JustOneMinute and Salon

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

APPLY ECONOMICS TO ECONOMISTS. — Over e-mail, Dean Baker offers an explanation why so few economists accurately saw the trembling instability beneath the economy, much less sounded the alarm. “They didn't know” is not an operative explanation. The analysis was public …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Kevin Drum

James H. Burnett III / MiamiHerald.com:

Quirky Festivus holiday gains followers — Those who celebrate Festivus display a pole instead of a tree and air grievances instead of exchanging gifts. — JBURNETT@MIAMIHERALD.COM — Alexandra Casuso was only 11 years old when Festivus made its TV debut on Seinfeld in 1997 …

Discussion: Hot Air and Booman Tribune

Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:

Shuster Pushes Inhofe On Global Warming Skepticism: 'If There Is A Hoax, Isn't It This Report Of Yours?' — Earlier this month, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) released a report citing “more than 650 international scientists” who back up his claims that manmade global warming is a hoax.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

The Politico:

Obama to use Lincoln Bible — From the transition team: — “Washington, D.C. - On January 20th, President-elect Barack Obama will take the oath of office using the same Bible upon which President Lincoln was sworn in at his first inauguration. The Bible is currently part of the collections of the Library of Congress.

Discussion: American Power, JammieWearingFool and Think Progress